Buzz City Beat: Charlotte Hornets final summer league roster, Rockets sign MCW
Buzz City Beat is Swarm and Sting’s one stop for the latest news and stories from around the web about the Charlotte Hornets.
Dwight Howard is set to join the Washington Wizards once his buyout with the Brooklyn Nets is complete. (WashingtonPost.com) In this edition of Buzz City Beat, we look at the Charlotte Hornets‘ official summer league roster, the Houston Rockets signing Michael Carter-Williams, and the Queen City team missing out on Tyreke Evans.
Hornets announce summer league roster (NBA.com)
"Official: @hornets release Chris Cokely, James Demery, Brice Johnson, Ben Lammers, Demetre Rivers & Alec Wintering from mini-camp roster. Team adds G Joe Chealey (College of Charleston) to roster which now stands at 14 players."
Charlotte started their mini-camp with a total of 19 players but released size of them and added Joe Chealey before heading to Las Vegas. Chealey is an undrafted free agent out of the College of Charleston and averaged 18 points per game during his senior year this past season. Assistant coach Jay Hernandez will coach the team in Vegas.
The roster is now Devonte’ Graham (second-round pick), Malik Monk (Hornets), Dwayne Bacon (Hornets), Miles Bridges (first round pick), Willy Hernangomez (Hornets), Arnoldas Kulboka (second-round pick), J.P. Macura (two-way contract), Gabe DeVoe, Terry Henderson (Greensboro Swarm), B.J. Johnson, Mangok Mathiang (two-way contract), Luke Petrasek (Greensboro Swarm), Shannon Scott, and Joe Chealey.
Rockets sign Michael Carter-Williams (Twitter/ @WojESPN)
"Michael Carter-Williams has reached deal with Rockets, source tells ESPN. One-year, minimum deal"
Michael’s time in Charlotte only lasted one season as he will now be moving onto Houston. The former Rookie of the Year had anything but a stellar year for the Hornets as he could never seem to find any consistency within the team’s offense. To be fair, he was pretty solid on the defensive end for Steve Clifford. Despite that, Charlotte had no interest in bringing him back.
Carter-Williams will now have the chance to compete for an NBA Title with the Rockets alongside Chris Paul and James Harden. MCW will most likely be CP3’s primary backup and although he doesn’t fit their three-point heavy scheme, he is an above average perimeter defender. It’s a low-risk move for the Western Conference giants.
Charlotte misses out on Tyreke Evans (ESPN.com)
"Free-agent guard Tyreke Evans has agreed in principle to a one-year, $12 million deal with the Indiana Pacers, league sources tell ESPN."
The Hornets were one of a number of teams including the Golden State Warriors, the Los Angeles Lakers, and the Oklahoma City Thunder who were after Evans this summer. It’s clear that Tyreke was out of Charlotte’s price range as the most they’ve could’ve signed him to was the full Mid-Level Exception worth around $8.8 million. He got $3+ million more from Indiana who had more cap space.
Next: Why Willy Hernangomez will have a breakout season
Evans would’ve been a great backcourt partner for Malik Monk off of the Hornets’ bench because of his size. Mitch Kupchak and company will now have to turn their attention to other free agent point guards like Tony Parker, Shabazz Napier, and Shelvin Mack. They could also try to trade for a backup point guard but signing a free agent seems more likely. Still, their options are open.